


What is The Wood

by birdthatlookslikeastick



Category: The Matrix (Movies), Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Fusion, crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 10:05:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7710919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdthatlookslikeastick/pseuds/birdthatlookslikeastick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kasia, troubled by dreams of the wood, reaches out to Agnieszka for help interpreting them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What is The Wood

On a crisp spring night in Gidna, the full moon rippled off the waves in the sea. Kasia, champion to King Stashek, had been startled awake by troubled dreams, and could not sleep. She gazed out over the ocean for a time, bent over her desk, penning a letter.

Dear Agnieszka,

How have you been? I am sorry it has been so very long since my last letter. 

I must cut straight to the point, and ask your advice on a certain matter. My sleep has been disturbed of late, by dreams of the corrupted heart tree which swallowed me whole so many years ago. I do not even like to write these words, as I am sure you can imagine. You have now freed many people from the corrupted heart trees, I believe - have any of them also had their dreams troubled? And is there anything to be done? 

I long to return to the wood, and the Spindle. And I miss you dearly.

Kasia

The next day she posted the letter. A few weeks later, a reply came from Agnieszka, uncharacteristically terse and to the point,

Dear Kasia,

I must speak to you. Can you come to the wood? I will be in Zatochek on the first day of summer. Meet me at the bridge.

Agnieszka

***

"Nieshka!" called Kasia happily, running off the stone road and gleefully embracing her old friend.

It had been nearly fifteen years since Kasia had seen her old friend, she realized. Agnieszka had certainly changed, of course; she was now in her thirties, and had clearly spent much of those years walking through the wood, doing her life's work: clearing the corruption, one pocket at a time. But as they gleefully walked through the wood, collecting fruits and berries and talking idly of friends and family in Dvernik, it was as though no time had passed whatsoever. However, they were both dancing around the subject that they needed to discuss, and they knew it well.

"Your dreams are happening because you are connected to the wood," said Nieshka, plucking a handful of blueberries. "It is a faint connection, largely broken by the summoning that Sarkan and I performed. However, it is there. You can feel the pull of home, I believe, and you still have the weight and the strength."

Kasia frowned. "But I, and the wood itself, are cleared of the corruption, are we not?"

Agnieszka nodded. "Yes, you are. There are of course pockets of the sickness throughout the wood, and it is my life's work to rememdy them, as best I can. However, of late, there have been aseries of attacks on he people I have rescued from corrupted heart trees. I do not know what they want, but perhaps wood is trying to warn you, through what tenuous connection it has to you. I... worry that it is but a matter of time before they come for you too, my dear."

Kasia laughed. "I doubt that they will cause me much difficulty, Nieshka."

Agnieszka smiled, nodding. "Still. It seems unwise to tempt fate."

The two women wandered silently through the wood, deep in thought.

"What should I do, then?" asked Kasia, finally. "Is there a way to break the connection to the wood?"

"Perhaps," said Nieshka. She turned one of the blueberries she had gathered over and over in her hand, humming a curious tune under her breath. The blueberry glowed for a moment. "If you eat this, the magic I have imbued it with may form a barrier between the wood and you. The dreams should stop, for now. But it won't work very well, or for very long. And if there is a reason you are feeling the wood's call, then we will never know."

Agnieszka moved to offer Kasia the blueberry, and paused. "There is another way," she said, hesitating. "But you're not going to like it... we could deepen your connection to the wood, rather than trying to break it off. It would give you certain... strengths... to deal with these soldiers. The dreams too, would deepen, and allow you to know more of what the wood knows."

Kasia shuddered. "I really don't want... Nieshka, can we go back?" She stopped, suddenly afraid, realizing where they were. "That's a heart tree, Nieshka. You're standing under a heart tree..."

Agnieszka smiled. "This one is all right, she isn't corrupted. She's just dreaming. But that gets to the crux of the matter." She reached up and plucked one of the heart tree fruits. "As a first step, why don't you try eating one of her fruits?" she said. "They're harmless and quite sweet."

Kasia stood there, regarding the ripe blueberries and the orange-read heart tree fruit, trying her best to put her memory of her time in the corrupted tree behind her. _That was different,_ she thought _._

"Kasia, the question you asked me in your letter was a good one, but I think perhaps there is a better question to ask, yes?

Kasia nodded. "What is the Wood, to me, now?" It seemed a strange thing to say, after fifteen years, but there was only so long that a person could crave water from a particular river without introspection.

"I can show you the answer to that question," said Agnieszka softly. "But only if you want me to."

In the end, there really was no choice. She reached out for the heart tree fruit, steeled herself, and took a bite. It... was pretty tasty, actually. Somewhere between a peach and a cooked turnip. She took another bite.

Nieshka smiled, tossing the blueberries aside.

"Okay, now what?" said Kasia.

"Well, there is no use mincing words: we go in there," said Agnieszka, gesturing.

"Down that rabbit hole?"

"No, into the heart tree. I'm sorry Kasia."

"Um, no. Nonono. Nieshka, no."

"You'll be with me," said her old friend, taking her hand. "And remember, the tree isn't corrupted anymore. I promise it'll be okay."

Kasia straighted, facing the tree like the warrior she was, and nodded. "All right."

The two women joined hands. " _Alamak_ ", said Agnieszka, and they stepped into the heart tree, pushing aside layers of pith and bark.

Inside, Kasia was surprised to be face to face with an ageless tree-woman, skin the color of birch, and hair a tangle of vines. Surely this must be the Wood-queen.

***

With some hesitation, Kasia relaxed back into the chair formed by the gnarled roots of the heart tree. Or, tried to relax. I think I’m allowed to find this a little difficult, she thought, rebelliously. The Wood-queen smiled, serenely and not unkindly. Agnieszka lay a hand on Kasia’s shoulder reassuringly.

Beside her, each holding one of her hands, the Wood-queen and Agnieszka sang together, a low, sweet chant. Even she could feel the deep magic of it; her own body, which so long ago had been made part of the wood, begin to respond to the song. The mind of the wood gently came into contact with her own.

At first she recoiled from its touch, flooded with memories of the corrupted heart tree in which she had been immured so many years ago, sap seeping into her skin and through her veins… but it was a fleeting memory. No, this, like everything which had come before that day, was completely different. The corruption was gone. Instead of the malevolence and evil, crushing will of the wood, she felt instead a tremendous sense of well-being and goodwill suffuse and embrace her.

This new, healthy wood was an old friend, a loving parent, a teacher. Yes, a teacher. Her trust building, she opened her mind, and let her curiosity engage. Okay, she said. Let’s see.

Images whirled through her mind. A heron, fishing in a stream, wings slightly outstretched. In her mind, she spread her own wings, feeling the flow of the water around her feet. Then, she was the water itself, shapeless and formless, flowing smoothly over the obstacles the river bed threw up in her way, and then crashing over a cliff face in a long cascade, into a churning pool below.

Then a great cat, perched on a tree limb, poised to pounce. An asp, coiled and ready to strike…

Later, the song gradually drew to a close. Kasia collected herself, and opened her eyes. She frowned slightly.

“Nieshka?” she said hesitatingly.

“Kasia, how do you feel? Are you all right?” her old friend responded, a touch of concern in her voice. The queen smiled, saying nothing.

Kasia didn’t respond immediately. She was puzzled. She stretched out one of her arms and regarded her fingers curiously. Already unnaturally strong, they now responded in a new way… it was hard to define. She grasped for the words to describe what had just happened.

“Nieshka… I think I know Kung Fu.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sadly i haven't the faintest idea what Kasia does after learning Kung Fu. it didn't occur to me until too late that Kasia is perfectly capable of winning any fight with or without kung fu... if you see what happens next, go ahead and finish it up for me!


End file.
